Did you know that there are over 250 different bees in Britain which include 24 species of bumblebees, 225 plus solitary bees and just one honeybee?

Did you also know that many are in decline and endangered so how do we protect them? Well the first thing we do is research – knowledge is power.

Lydia Needle, fibre artist, has picked just fifty of the bees left in the UK and for each one she is producing one tiny, life-size bee piece in wool.

Then, fifty other artists, makers, writers etc. are working on a companion piece, each in response to the habitat, linked wildlife, ecology, flight, sound, predators, (or whatever they choose) of one specific UK bee.

The artists and makers are from all over this beautiful land of ours and we are really excited by the wide range of ideas that they’ve been coming up with. Together, this work will be shown in Somerset in July 2017 and it’s going to be the most wonderful exhibition.

Between them, the fifty-one artists have collated so much valuable research about their bees that they want to share: their habitats and ecosystems, the flora and fauna that rely on them, the parts of Britain that thrive in, the places that they have been lost from. These artists and makers are passionate advocates for their bees and they want to share all of this with as many people as possible, not just those that come to the gallery.

So, the best way is in a book.

A book of bees.

A book of bees and art.

A book of bees and art and ecology.

The plan is to publish 500 books to spread the story as far as possible; if we are successful, the money raised from the sale of the book will go towards another FIFTY BEES project. And then another, and another....